doesn't bite

21 Fun Facts About Malaysia

Malaysia is a fantastic place, and I think it’s my favourite country I’ve visited until now. I’m also pretty sure that out of all my travel destinations this was the one where I discovered the largest amount of curiosities. Below you can find a bunch of them.

2. People love football. At least watching it. I could’t tell whether they like playing it as well? Anyway, we managed to visit Malaysia during the UEFA Euro 2016, so we could witness how addicted locals were to these games. They were watching the matches wherever it was possible: on the street, on pub TVs or on massive screens in shopping malls. They weren’t even bothered by the fact that because of the time zone difference the most interesting games were played in the middle of the night. Next day everyone just went to work as if nothing happened. I think, for them it must have been like the American Superbowl that lasted more than just a day.

3. You have to stand on the left hand side of the escalator, while those in a hurry can walk up on the right hand side. It’s the complete opposite to Europe. If people walk in a funny S shape in front of an escalator, you’ll know straight away that they are not locals.

7. The majority of the toilets are squat toilets or English toilets having a funny elongated shape and installed much lower than usual. Instead of toilet paper you’ll only find a shower head in the cubicles. If you still need paper, you’ll either have to ask for some from the staff, or make sure you have some tissues on you at all times.

9. Malaysia is located in the equatorial region. When you first arrive to the country and leave your plane behind, you’ll straight away understand everything you learned about the equatorial climate at your geography class.

10. In those regions where no tigers live in the wild, the cow herds are left outside day and night for several weeks without any supervision. They don’t have enemies, so they are safe. I would be curious to know, what would happen if you’d do the same in Transylvania?!

13. Being a tourist in Malaysia is quite an interesting experience. For some reason there aren’t many western people visiting this country, which means that if you are tall and pale, you have no chance to blend in with the locals. On top of that they are very openly staring at you, and some of them might approach you while saying ‘Foto! Foto!’ with a big smile. By the time you realise what just happened, the selfie is saved. I don’t even want to try and guess how many times were we uploaded to a random person’s Facebook account?

14. If you are frustrated, let’s say in London, that the trains are packed and it’s hard to get on and off, then maybe it’s time for you to visit Malaysia. Here the crowd is at least twice as big. Additionally, people SERIOUSLY block the doors, so you don’t really have a chance to get into or off of the carriage. This is true even if the train is empty otherwise.

15. Both on the metro and on the trains there are ladies only coaches, where men are not allowed to travel. This applies even if the ladies only coach is almost empty, while the rest of the train is packed. If someone breaks this rule, a scary inspector lady appears out of nowhere and she won’t stop shouting until the poor man leaves the carriage. Funny thing is, that all my photos of ladies only coaches prove that men aren’t really bothered about this regulation. By the way, this was introduced due to the fact that in the past sexual harassment was very widespread on public transport. Today, the situation is much better, but the system stayed the same.

16. The monorail is Kuala Lumpur’s very special way of transport. For me it felt like the combination of the DLR in London with a roller-coaster, because the train straddles a steal or concrete beam which stabilises it even in the sharpest turns.

19. The newsagents only sell postcards but they don’t have stamps. Now, if someone tries to send postcards home during a public holiday, they will have to choose an alternative method, because all the post offices are closed.

21. During our two-week trip we haven’t had a chance to try the famous durian, because we couldn’t find it sliced and prepackaged anywhere, and it is prohibited to bring it back to your hotel room because of the strong smell. Maybe next time…